It is said that necessity is the mother of invention and indeed that could perfectly describe Africa where it comes to innovation, particularly on mobile. Utility vs Coolness In a great talk at TEDxVienna Alexander Oswald, Head of Marketing at Nokia, tells the story of how he and his family visited Kenya and were immensely shocked at just how much people in Kenya were able to accomplish via mobile phones. From sending and receiving money, to banking and paying for utilities & ...

Big and clunky, awesome and funky - Skyrim poses a bit of a conundrum. Its sprawling size affords unparalleled immersion, but the game is hampered by performance and user interface issues. Its features definitely make it worth your time and money, but the mountainous road will be full of bumps along the way. Feature Length Skyrim is packed with features, some adapted or improved from the previous Elder Scrolls games, others completely new. Here’s a quick run-through of the most exciting ...

Fresh on the heels of a Thanksgiving commercial that bored audiences, Google has released another Google+ television commercial. But have they hit the mark this time or is it another miss? The ad encompasses everything that is Google, it's simple, slick, and presents the social network's features in a somewhat humorous manner. The previous ad was built on nostalgia and people's need to connect and share with the right people. This new ad looks at the evolution of social connections using ...

If there’s one thing Google’s never failed at, it’s search. Googling has, after all become synonymous with performing a web search. As such, it’s not all that surprising that it's something of an authority on the subject. In celebration of this, Google has released a video chronicling the evolution of its online search products. According to the official blog post the video is posted in, it highlights "some of the most important milestones from the past decade—and a taste of ...

Fresh whispers of a date for Facebook’s long-awaited initial public offering have emerged. According to the Wall Street Journal, the IPO could come as early as the first half of 2012. This despite Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently saying he was in no hurry to take the social networking giant public. According to the Journal, Facebook hopes to raise around $10-billion in the IPO which would see it valued somewhere around the US$100-billion mark. That is around twice the current ...

The tech industry is scratching its collective head about a new acquisition by Twitter of a startup company that develops security software for Android smartphones. Whisper Systems, founded by the larger-than-life Moxie Marlinspike, a security researcher, cryptographics specialist and manic maritime enthusiast. The fit seems strange as Whisper focuses on on-device security software for Android phones – although Twitter may be looking for brains, not products, as it has taken some stick for the lack of security on its globe-spanning microblogging ...

Only a handful of nations have ratified the right of members of the LGBT community to marry. This means the fight for marriage equality is still one of the most important civil rights battles being fought across the world. That a video produced for the Australian marriage equality campaign went viral is proof of this. Australian activist group Get Up!, produced the video to be flighted on Australian television as part of its support for Australia's fights for marriage equality. The ...

Raising funding can be potentially expensive, as it requires resources, and time-consuming experience. Done correctly, it can yield valuable results and a substantial financial investment to grow your business. Enthusiastic entrepreneurs that want to go this route should be well prepared and display these five key essentials that funders look for when considering investing. 1. Know your market Clear and thorough market and competitor analysis is the mainstay of any successful business concept -- even more so when seeking funding. Understanding who ...

Many years ago, I worked for UUNET Internet Africa in South Africa. I remember sitting in the Operations room and looking at an international undersea cabling map, which showed each and every cable connecting the different continents of the world. It used to amaze me that South Africa's connection to the rest of the world was so fragile. If I remember correctly, we really relied on one or two undersea cables at the time. I believe one of them was ...

Following the controversy around a Durex Twitter account faux pas, the condom maker has apologised and deleted offensive tweets from its Twitter account that caused an outcry over the weekend. Durex posted a message on Sunday saying the "irresponsible" tweets had been removed, although an inappropriate photo showing a naked man was still visible on the account. “Due to the offensive nature and the response received, the irresponsible tweets have respectfully been removed,” read the Tweet. The scandal began late on Thursday following ...